Crusher and pulverizer.



No. 726,602. PATENTED APR. 28, 1903.

' M. F. WILLIAMS: GRUSHER AND PULVERIZER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 4, 1901, N0 MODEL.

UNITED STATES MILTON F. WILLIAMS, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TOTHE WILLIAMS PATENT ORUSHER & PULVERIZER COMPANY, OF ST. LOUIS,MISSOURI,

A CORPORATION OF MISSOURI.

CRUSHER AND PU LVERIZER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 726,602, dated April28, 1903.

Appliation filed January 4, 1901- Serial No. 42,085. (No model.)

To and whom tam/cry concern:

Be it known that I, MILTON F. WILLIAMS,

a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of St. Louis, inthe State of Missouri, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Crushers and Pulverizers, of which the following is afull, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification, in which I Figure l is a side elevational view, partly insection, of my improved crusher and-pulverizer. Fig. 2 is a top planview, partly in section, of the same; and Fig. 3 is a detail frontelevational View, partly in section, of the lower portion of themachine.

This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in crushers andpulverizers, the object being to-construct a machine of the characterdescribed which will be capable of handling wet clays coming directlyfrom the bank, said machine shredding or reducing such clays, serving insuch capacity practically as a pug-mill.

Another object is to provide means whereby a hammer-carrying shaft maybe adjusted toward or from the grinding-surface in order to take up wearat the striking-point of the hammers and on said grinding-surface, andthus insure a relatively long life to the wearing parts of the machine.

Another object is to render the breakerplate, or rather its equivalent,adjustable toward and from the striking-pointsof the hammers to take upthe wear thereof and also to present a moving surface upon which thematerial entering the machine is initially crushed, so .that when themachine is handling wet material, such as clays, &c., the wet materialwill not bank in the feed end of the machine and retard or prevent theintroduction of the new material.

With these objects in view the invention consists in the arrangement,construction,and combination of the several parts, all as willhereinafter be described,and afterward pointed out in the claims.

50 In the drawings, A indicates one of the side walls of the casing,from which extend suitable webs a, forming vertical guideways, said websbeing connected together near their upper ends by a shelf-likeconnecting-piece a. The upper edge of this side wall is cut away, as ata (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1,) in which cut-away portion isreceived the main shaft B. This shaft B has circular disks 1) keyed toit within the casing, said disks forming hammer-supports, between whichare pivoted the revolving heaters or hammers b. As shown in thedrawings, these beaters or hammers are given a quarter-twist at theirends, so that the flat sides thereof contact with the material tobereduced. These heaters are preferably arranged in longitudinal rows, thehammers or heaters of alternate rows being staggered with relation toadjacent rows.

C indicates a bearing in which the shaft B is mounted, said bearingbeing arranged between the upper ends of the guideways a.

a indicates cap-pieces bolted to the upper edges of the guideways a andextending inwardly over the lateral wings of the bearing 0, saidcap-pieces supporting guide bolts or rods a there being preferably oneof such rods passing through an opening in each corner of the wing ofthe bearing 0 to guide said bearing in its vertical movement.

a indicates set-screws arranged in the cappiece, said set-screws beingvertically adj ustable and designed to bear upon the upper face of thebearing to lock the same against vertical movement when the bearing isadjusted.

a indicates bolts arranged in the ends of the bearing andpassing throughslots in the guiding-web a, (see Fig. 3,) the purpose of which bolts isto clamp the bearing firmly in its adjusted position and prevent thesame from vibrating laterally.

D indicates a pillow-block passing through the web or shelf a forsupporting the bearingblock 0. The bearing-block is preferably providedwith a round knob on its lower face, which is seated in a recess in theupper end of the cap-block, as shown in Fig. 3, while said cap-block hasa threaded engagement with a shaft d, stepped in a suitable bearingprovided in the base-flange of the side frame. Shaft 61 carries aworm-gear d, which meshes with a worm e on a shaft 6, one end of saidshaft carrying a miter-gear e meshing with IOO ' a miter-gear e on atransverse shaft e on one end of which is arranged an operating-handleE. The opposite end of this shaft c carries a miter-gear for driving ashaft on the other side of the machine corresponding in all respects tothe shaft e. This shaft on the opposite side of the machine actuates anadjustable bearing-block O in a similar manner as has been describedwith respect to the bearing-block 0. Thus when the handle E is actuatedboth the bearing-blocks O and C, assuming that the screws a and a areloosened, may be adjusted vertically, so that the striking-points of thehammers may be moved closer to or farther away from thegrinding-surface, depending upon the kind of material to be handled inthe machine or upon the amount of wear of the hammers. When thestriking-points of the hammers have been adjusted to a proper positionrelative to the grinding-surface, the set-screws a are turned down, soas to hold the bearingblocks against upward vertical movement, atterwhich the bolts a are tightened to prevent the bcaring-blocks fromvibrating.

It is quite important in the class of machinery to which this inventionrelates to be able to adjust the shaft carrying the pivoted hammers orbeaters, as said hammers or beaters are subject to such extreme wearthat an hours service frequently destroys the usefulness of the hammers.I am aware that the pivotal points of the hammers have been madeadjustable toward and from the axis of rotation, such as shown in theFrickey patent, and this is of great value in insuring a longer life tothe hammers; but adjusting the striking-points of the hammers in themanner described by the Frickey patent requires considerable time, and,furthermore, such adjustment is restricted to defined limitsas, forinstance, where the centers of the openings aredistantfrom the axis ofrotation, say, eight inches, eight and three-eighths inches, eight andthree-fourths inches, &c., respectively, it follows that an adjustmentof the strikingpoints of the hammers in each instance will bethree-eighths of an inch and that no finer adjustment can be made withthis arrangement. In my present construction any adjustment of thestriking-point of the hammers desired can be effected, depending uponthe amount of movement imparted to the handle E. Another advantageconsequent upon the adjustment of the pivoted heaters or hammers throughthe instrumentality of the movable bearings resides in the fact thatwhen the striking-points of the hammers are worn and the shaft carryingsaid hammers is adjusted toward the grinding-cage it is not necessary towait until the hammers are worn to their fullextentsay three-eighths ofan inch-Joefore such adjustment can be made. Further,

when the adjustment is made the path of the worn hammers is no longerconcentric with the fixed concentric grinding-surface, but is eccentricwith respect thereto, so that as the material is received from thegrinding-surface at the feed end of the machine it is gradually reducedby the action of the hammers, which at this point are most distant fromthe grinding-surface, and as the material moves backwardly on thegrinding-surface it is further reduced, because the hammers approachnearer and nearer to the grinding-surface, and consequently the materialis reduced to a degree of fineness corresponding to the action of thehammers thereon, which action becomes more violent as the hammersclosely approach the grinding-surface. It follows that where the shaftis vertically adjustable, as shown in the drawings, the point where thestriking points of the hammers most nearly approach the grinding-surfacein the adjustment of the shaft is at the lowest point of saidgrinding-surface and that the material entering the feed-opening willwork down to said lowest point and be reduced to a degree of finenessproportionate to the approach of the striking-points of the hammers tothe grinding-surface. Rearwardly beyond this point the hammers recedefrom the grindingsurface, and such particles as are not reducedsufficiently to pass through the openings of the grinding-surface fallback for further action by the hammers. It is obvious that in"- stead ofadjusting the shaft vertically, so as to cause the hammers to mostnearly approach the grinding-surface at its lowest point, said shaft canbe adjusted at an angle, so as to cause this approach of the hammerstoward the grinding-surface at any desired point. It will likewise beunderstood that while I have shown a certain mechanism for effecting theadjustment of the shaft there are other mechanisms which can be adaptedto accomplish the same result, and therefore I do not wish to be limitedto the adjusting mechanism shown, except as such limitations may beexpressed in the claims.

The grinding-surface before referred to is preferably in the form ofcurved bars f, supported upon lugs a projecting from the inner faces ofthe side walls, said curved bars being formed with openings in which arefitted the transversely-disposed bars F, forming the cage orgrindingsurface. These grinding-bars F are substantially diamondshapedin cross-section and so disposed that the longest-axis is arranged at anangle considerably less than a right angle (about twenty-two and a halfdegrees) with respect to a radial line drawn from the center from whichthe barsfare described. This arrangement of the bars F presents a lip orcutting edge upwardly and forwardly, so that when the material isreceived on the grinding-surface this cutting edge materially assists inthe quick reduction or comminution of said material. WVhen the inneredges of these grinding-bars are worn, the cage may be removed and saidbars taken out and inverted, so as to present a new lip inwardly. Theadvantage of this is that for some material a lip-cage, as it is called,is of great imporlIO tance, and where these lips are present on thecage-bars, making it possible to present new lips by reversing the bars,it follows that said bars will last practically twice as long as theywould were they provided with a single lip. The back plate G, as well asthe rear end of the cover or top wall H, is preferably steam-jacketed,as shown in Fig. 1, for obvious reasons.

I indicates the hopper arranged at the feed end of the machine, uponwhich the material to be reduced is placed. 1 This hopper is preferablyprovided with a steam-chamber, as shown. Instead of having the hopper Iextend down to the forward edge of the cage, as has heretofore beendone, the inner end of said hopper serving in such a position as abreaker-plate, I terminate said hopper some distance above the forwardedge of the cage and arrange a roller J therebetween and the forwardedge of the cage. This rollerserves as an anvil or movable breaker-plateand receives the material from the hopper, presenting the same to theaction of the hammers or beaters, which initially crush or break thematerial on said roller. This roller is pref erably hollow to form asteam-ohamber, the inlet and exit passages leading to and from saidchamber passing through the axles 7' of the roller, as shown in Fig. 2.These axles are mounted in boxes K, slidingly arranged upon asupporting-shelf at, extending from the side frame of the machine. Inorder to adjust the boxes inwardly and outwardly, I provide screws linthe forward edges thereof, which screws are mounted in stationary lugsZ. The outer ends of these screws carry sprocket-wheels Z over whichpasses a chain Z one of said screws having secured to it anoperating-handle L. As the striking-points of the hammers wear, thisrolling breaker may be adjustable inwardly to any desired degreeadjacent the path of the hammers, so that when the material is placedupon the hopper I it falls upon the rolling breaker and is carriedinwardly and downwardly to be acted upon by the hammers, which initiallybreak or crush the material thereon, after which the material falls uponthe grindingsurface and is further acted upon by the hammers.

M indicates a pulley mounted upon one of the axles jot the rollingbreaker, whereby said breaker may be rotated in the direction of thearrow shown in Fig. 1. In order to pre vent the material fromaccumulating on the surface of this rolling breaker, I pivotally mount ascraping-plate N in the front wall of the casing, which is designed toclean the surface of said breaker, the inner end of said scraping-platebeing held against the breaker at all times by suitable weights n, whichare preferably adjustable toward and from the fulcrum of the blade toregulate the pressure of the blade against the periphery of the roller.

In actual operation for working on Wet clays the cage-bars are arrangedabout two inches apart, and the main shaft 13 is rotated about onethousand revolutions per minute. The rolling breaker J is rotated aboutone hundred revolutions per minute, and as the impaction of the hammerstends to bank the material slightly in advance of the strikingpoints ofthe hammers said material if banked on the roller will be carriedinwardly and downwardly, the hammers keeping the same clean. If anymaterial clings to the surface of the rollers and is not carried away bythe hammers, the scraping-blade will remove said material, as is wellunderstood.

While 'I have shown and described a machine particularly adapted for usein connection with wet materials, it is obvious that my said machine maybe employed in connection with dry materials, in which event the bars Fwould be arranged at appropriate distances apart.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Pat out, is-

1. In a machine of the character described, a casing having adisintegrating-chamber and a hopper leading thereinto, said casinghaving a portion cut away adjacent to the lower end of the hopper, arotary breaker-plate arranged in said cut-away portion of the casing,

a grinding-surface adjacent said breakersaid space between the end ofthe hopper and the end of the grinding-surface, and revolving beatersarranged to cooperate with said breaker-plate; substantially asdescribed.

3. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination with acasing, of a grinding-surface at the lower portion thereof, r'evolvingbeaters mounted in said casing adapted to cooperate with saidgrinding-surface, a feed-hopper at one side of the machine, the end ofsaid hopper terminating at a point short of the end of thegrinding-surface to provide a space therebetween, a rotary breakerplatemounted in said space between the end of the hopper and the end of thegrindingsurface arranged to cooperate with therevolving beaters, andmeans for operating the beaters at a speed greater than that of therotary breaker-plate; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature, in the presence oftwo witnesses, this 2d day of January, 1901.

MILTON 1 WILLIAMS.

Witnesses:

WM. I-L Soorr, A. S. GRAY.

